


Nobody Gets Me (Like You)

by ultraviolet_violet



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: (I hope), Drummer! Jughead, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, It’s seriously just fluff, Soft Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Strangers to Lovers, but it’s a cute cringy, idk how to flirt so they don’t know how to either, they’re a little cringy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 04:15:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30133848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultraviolet_violet/pseuds/ultraviolet_violet
Summary: A single night out turned into a relationship no one expected. Betty never imagined falling for Toni’s drummer, Jughead Jones. For a moment, he was just another guy. He was a guy in Toni’s band who she thought was good looking. That didn’t mean she wanted to date him. Then, suddenly, he was her world and she couldn’t imagine being with anyone other than him.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Cheryl Blossom & Betty Cooper, Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz, FP Jones II & Jughead Jones, Fangs Fogarty & Jughead Jones & Sweet Pea & Toni Topaz, Jellybean Jones & Jughead Jones
Comments: 9
Kudos: 37





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! So this is a _very_ fluffy fic compared to Too Young to Burn. Honestly, it’s a little cringy (do ppl still say that) at times too. All of your comments and kudos are greatly appreciated and I am so excited for you to read it!!

“You can’t always wear these grandma sweaters, Betty,” Cheryl started, turning in her seat and looking at her best friend. “Don’t you have more of a bar outfit?”

Betty frowned, shrugging. “I like my outfit,” she mumbled and Cheryl groaned. “What’s wrong with it?” she asked, chuckling.

“Only everything,” Cheryl responded and Betty scoffed. “Betty, you are in jeans—and they don’t even have rips—with a white t-shirt and a cardigan. Now Betty,” she exaggerated, placing her hands on her friend's thighs. “Are we certain that _this_ is the outfit you want to meet your future husband in?” 

“Oh,” Betty huffed, pushing Cheryl away. “Who said I’m going to meet my future husband?” 

“I did,” Cheryl joked. “Just now. And have you seen _Grey’s Anatomy_? It happened there.” 

Betty rolled her eyes, standing. “I’m not changing. _If_ I happen to meet my future husband—as if that would ever happen—wouldn’t you rather have him meet me as myself? He would be looking at me like this for…ever.” 

“You know,” Cheryl breathed, sighing. “You’re right. But are you sure you want to meet him in that?”

Betty scoffed, giggling. She walked over to her closet and opened it. She sighed, crossing her arms as she whispered, “Go to town.” 

Cheryl squealed, clapping her hands. “Okay,” she muttered. “Oh, holy pastels. Jesus Christ, Betty, seriously?” 

“I teach little kids,” she pouted, sitting down at the end of her bed. “I have to wear bright colors.” 

Cheryl huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at the array of clothes in her closet. She reached forward, pulling out a slip dress she had hanging up. “This,” she said, tossing the article of clothing to Betty. “Why have I never seen you wear this?”

“Because…” Betty winced, looking at it. “Isn’t it a little much?”

“A little much?” Cheryl questioned, shaking her head. “No, no. This is amazing! Betty, you would look hot. And, I mean, you always look hot—duh! But that dress is _hot_.” 

“You just said hot too many times,” she whispered and Cheryl scoffed. “You just… I bought it, like, forever ago but I don’t know.” 

“You’re going to look amazing! I promise,” she added, offering a smile. “Your future husband would _die_ over this.” 

“I am not looking for my future husband,” Betty laughed, smoothing her dress once it was on. “I’m only going because you said that Toni said it’s important for you to be there and you don’t want to go alone.” 

Cheryl shrugged, mumbling, “You can look for a husband too.” 

They both laughed and Betty shook her head. “Sometimes, I can’t believe you,” she whispered, fixing her makeup in the mirror.

“You know,” Cheryl said with a nod, watching Betty put on her lip gloss. “If I was a guy, I would totally swoon.” 

“How kind,” Betty said dramatically, placing a hand over her heart. They both giggled. “So, where are we going?” Betty asked, tucking hair behind her ear. 

“The Whyte Wyrm,” Cheryl began explaining, looking through Betty’s makeup. “We’ve been there, like, a handful of times at least. Or maybe _I’ve_ been there… I don’t know. We’re going to see Toni’s band and they’re very good, honestly. Totally thought they would suck because, well, they’re a band trying to flourish in New York City and also somehow want to be the next Led Zeppelin but, like, with a girl.” 

“I don’t know if you mean that because they have four members or because they only play their music,” Betty whispered as she left her room. 

“I mean it because they have four members… I think.” Cheryl sighed, shaking her head. “They play their music occasionally, but they also have their own stuff. But, uh, yeah. They’re good, swell. Toni told me they all went to high school together and then just happened to all go to the same college.” 

“How do you ‘happen’ to go to the same college?” Betty asked incredulously. 

“I don’t know. I asked the same thing and she just gave me _that_ look and then… well, I'm not telling you that part,” Betty rolled her eyes and Cheryl laughed. “But, nonetheless, thank you for coming with me. It’s so weird going to these things alone and just… sitting in their room.” 

“We go to their dressing room?” Betty asked, eyes wide. “No, no, no. Cher, that’s weird.” 

“It’s not weird,” Cheryl laughed, closing Betty’s apartment door and threading her arm through Betty’s. “It’s just kind of awkward. But Toni and I mostly stay on our own side while the three guys act like idiots on the other.”

“Idiots?” Betty copied. “What do you mean idiots?” 

Cheryl sighed, shaking her head. “You’ll see.”

“Why are there so many people here?” Betty shouted over the music that was playing over the speakers. Cheryl shrugged, placing their drinks on the table and sitting down next to Betty. “Are they seriously that good or is it because it’s Friday?” 

“Mm,” Cheryl hummed, sipping from her martini. “I would say it’s half-and-half. They’re good and lots of people come when they play, but it’s also Friday and people are coming to forget what they did all week long.” 

Betty hummed lightly, stirring her drink. “When do they come on?” she asked, wiping salt off of the rim of her glass and brushing it away on a napkin.

“I’m not sure,” Cheryl said and Betty rested her chin in her hand. “I wasn’t really listening to Toni when she was talking about it.” 

“Yuck,” Betty exclaimed, frowning. “You and that love haze. Ugh, it’s revolting.” 

“It’s revolting,” Cheryl mocked, rolling her eyes. “You only say that because you refuse to meet anyone.” 

“I don’t have time,” she huffed. “I have to attempt to read a six-year-old’s chicken scratch—which is very cute so I really shouldn’t complain. But do you want to try and do that?” Cheryl sighed, sipping from her drink. “Yeah, go all silent.” They both laughed and the music went silent, people cheering. “So they are popular,” Betty muttered, straightening in her seat to see over people's heads. 

Cheryl squealed when she noticed they were onstage, clapping her hands. “Do you see her?” she whispered to Betty, her grin wide as she watched Toni adjust her microphone and give the guy at the drums a glare. He was dying of laughter, clutching his sides. “Isn’t she just adorable?”

“Is that your skirt?” Betty asked, giving Cheryl a questioning look. 

“Oh, that bitch,” she breathed and Betty bit back a laugh. “She is so explaining that to me when she’s done.” 

“Oh, yes,” Betty mumbled. “Because you’ll stay mad at her for that long.” Cheryl frowned and Betty giggled. “Who are they?” Betty asked.

“I have no clue,” Cheryl said, leaning closer to Betty. “I’ve never really officially met them. I’ve only seen them like one time and I’ve only been in the dressing room once.” 

“Cheryl!” Betty shouted and Cheryl winced. “You made it seem like you knew these people and now you’re telling me you don’t even know their names?” 

Cheryl huffed, waving her hand. “Calm down, they seem like nice people.” 

“Seem,” Betty emphasized. “Seem!” she yelled. 

“Hey,” the lead guy chuckled over the microphone. He was tall and he had a guitar strapped across him. “How is everybody tonight?” Betty rolled her eyes at the overused opening, sipping from her drink while everyone else whooped and shouted loudly. “Okay, well, we don’t have any announcements tonight so let's get into this show, shall we?” 

Everyone screamed and Betty straightened in her seat. “She’s going to do amazing!” Cheryl exclaimed and Betty laughed, shaking her head. 

“Thank you, have a good night!” the lead member said through the mic. Everyone went crazy and Cheryl was out of her seat in a heartbeat. 

She grabbed Betty’s arm, giving it a tug. “Come on!” she shouted. “I have to go see Toni!” 

Betty huffed, grabbing her drink and bag in one hand. “You’re moving too fast,” she whined, trying to squeeze through people. As they gave her dirty looks she mumbled, “I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.” 

“Okay,” Cheryl sighed, turning towards Betty when they got to a dark hall. She fluffed her hair, posing and smiling. “How do I look?” 

“Like Cheryl,” Betty answered, sipping from her drink. Cheryl frowned and she chuckled. “Okay, okay. You look great. Now, go see your girlfriend. I bet she doesn’t even care what you look like.” 

Cheryl sighed, nodding. “Okay,” she whispered, knocking on the door. Toni opened it and they gave each other a smile before they were hugging like they hadn’t seen each other in years. 

When they pulled apart Cheryl squealed. “You sounded so good!” she shouted, her ears still ringing from the speakers. “I’m so proud of you! I swear, you get more and more amazing every night—and that goes for all of you,” she added over Toni’s shoulder, looking back to her with a grin. “I don’t even know how you can play the guitar _and_ sing like that at the same time.”

“Trust me,” Toni mumbled. “It’s not easy.” Cheryl huffed, brushing past Toni and into the room. “Hi, Betty.” Toni said with a smile. 

“Hi,” Betty breathed. “You did really good. I don’t… you all are amazing.” 

“Thank you,” Toni chuckled. “Come in, you can sit by Cher.” Betty nodded, holding her glass with both hands. 

She stepped into the room and her eyes locked with one of the guys—the drummer, she could tell by the way he laughed. He smirked when she stared longer than she should have, looking back to the two other guys. 

“That’s Jughead,” Toni whispered, leaning towards Betty.

Betty inhaled sharply, uttering, “What?” 

“The guy you’re staring at,” Toni started. “That’s Jughead. He’s our drummer. He doesn’t sing, he refuses to sing—publicly, and he’s the one who makes fun of all of us. He smokes like a chimney, only wears silver jewelry, and he will throw a fit if you force him to wear anything other than his black high top converses or black Doc Martens.” 

“Oh,” Betty chuckled. “I… he was just in my, um, my-my eyeline.” 

“He wasn’t,” Toni stated. “But… if it helps you sleep at night.” 

Betty sighed, murmuring, “You are just like Cheryl.” Toni laughed and grinned, moving over to Cheryl. 

She looked back over to Jughead and he moved his eyes up from the guy on the floor. He ran his eyes over her, inhaling deeply before he reached for the cigarettes on the side table beside him. He lit it, holding her gaze as he took a drag. 

She let out a breath when she glanced away, moving over to Cheryl and Toni hurriedly. They burst into fits of laughter and Betty huffed. “Shut up,” she gritted out, only causing them to laugh harder. 

“I do not like him!” Betty grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as she walked in front of Cheryl and Toni. “I saw him for, what, three minutes? You can’t like someone based on that! You have to know their personality, their background, the shit they’ve done—you can’t base how you feel about someone off of their looks!”

“Chill out,” Cheryl mumbled. “Betty, you can _totally_ like someone based on their looks. If people didn’t do that, literally no one would be with anybody. You have to find someone attractive to know you want to know more about them—romantically and, well, maybe sexually.” 

“Okay, I am _not_ attracted to him,” she argued. “He-He-He… Jesus Christ, I don’t know! But I do know that I do not like him!” she shouted and Cheryl sighed. 

“Oh,” she sighed, letting go of Toni and gripping Betty’s shoulders. “I know, it’s hard to admit you’re attracted to men when women are right there.” Betty scoffed and Cheryl smiled. “I have to say that every time you throw a fit over a guy. But you can admit you find him attractive. You’re not going to die and it doesn’t mean you have to date him. It just means you find him hot and… stuff.” 

“I don’t,” she challenged. 

“You _do_ ,” Cheryl responded. “And that’s okay. He plays drums in a band. It’s either you take him, or someone else will and you’ll never have him. You _have_ heard “Sk8er Boi”, right?” 

Betty gave her an unimpressed look, scoffing. “I don’t want him,” she whined, though her tone was unconvincing. “I don’t want him, I don’t know him. He’s a guy in Toni’s band.” 

“I don’t think Jug’s going to be taken off the market any time soon,” Toni interrupted. “He might hook up with a few people but that’s it.” 

“A few people?” Betty muttered.

“Like one or two a month at most. He’s a guy,” Toni huffed. “He’s going to do shit. He likes sex… I assume. I don’t talk to him about that stuff, it’s weird.” 

“I don’t get why we’re even _vaguely_ talking about his sex life,” Betty whispered, stepping back towards her apartment building.

Toni sighed and Cheryl patted Betty’s shoulder. “How about this: if you see him again, you have to at least have a conversation with him.” Betty huffed, nodding with a frown. “Good. Now, I love you and you go upstairs and go straight to bed. You have lots of chicken scratch to read tomorrow.” 

“Goodnight to you too,” Betty said. Cheryl laughed, waving to her as she skipped off down the sidewalk with Toni's hand in hers. 

~

Jughead chuckled, nodding as he took the slip of paper along with his card. “Thanks,” he forced, giving the way-too-young girl a smile. There was no way she wasn’t a teenager still, and if she wasn’t, he was suddenly 70. 

He tossed the slip into the trash without looking at it, pulling out his cigarettes as he stepped out the door. He fished in his pocket for a moment, finding his lighter. He cupped the front of his cigarette, flickering it and lighting the cigarette. 

A blonde blur ran by before it collided with his shoulder, jolting both of them. It made the blur stumble a little and she checked the ends of her ponytail quickly. 

“Oh my god,” she started in a flurry, pulling out her earphones. “I am so… oh my god.” 

He narrowed his eyes, taking a drag from his cigarette. “What?” he asked with a chuckle. “I didn’t burn you, did I?” 

“No!” she answered quickly, chuckling. “Not-Not-Not at all. Um, it’s just, um…” 

“You’re the blonde who, uh, Toni’s girlfriend’s…” He winced, not being able to finish the sentence. 

Betty hummed, nodding. “Yeah, that’s me. You were… I don’t really like rock music like, um, at all. But-But you guys did amazing. I mean, I-I don’t know a lot…” She trailed off as he smirked and took a drag from his cigarette, smoothing her hands over her ponytail. She sighed, smoothing her hands over her stomach next and cringing when she realized she only had a sports bra on. “I really should, um, finish my run. I, uh, have a lot… to get done when I get home.” 

“Yeah, that’s fine. I understand,” he said with a nod. “I got lots of drum playing to do.” 

She giggled, sucking her teeth for a moment. “Um, I guess I’ll, uh… see you around. Maybe I’ll… come back next week? I’m not sure how often you guys do shows.” 

“Whenever we can,” he chuckled, taking another drag from his cigarette. “Don’t slam into anyone else, especially if they’re lighting a cigarette.”

She laughed, twisting her hands. “Yeah, I should really pay attention to where I’m going. I’m sorry for doing that,” she whispered. 

“You’re okay, it happens. But you’re okay?” he asked, concern laced through his voice. 

“Yeah,” she responded. “My hair isn’t on fire, no burns or anything on my shoulder. I’m okay,” she mumbled. 

He nodded, clearing his throat. “Okay, I’ll-I’ll let you go. Have a… fun rest of your run.” 

She giggled, placing her earphones back in her ears. “Have fun with whatever you’re doing too,” she said over her shoulder with a bright grin, bouncing on her feet before she ran off. He chuckled, taking a drag from his cigarette as she hurried off. 

~

“I don’t want to see him,” Betty said as she sank down into her couch. “I just want to… say hi.” Toni gave Cheryl a knowing look. “I ran into him—literally—while jogging this morning and he seems really nice. I can always use friends… rock band friends.”

“Our next show is on Tuesday if you want to come,” Toni stated, placing her arm under her head in Cheryl’s lap. “ _Or_ you could always come hang out before the show.” 

“I can’t drink on a work night,” Betty whined. “I don’t let myself. If I do, I’m not a good example for my kids.” 

“You don’t have to drink,” Toni responded and Betty furrowed her brows. “Just because we play at a bar, doesn’t mean you _have_ to drink. We don’t. We can, but we typically don’t. And before the show, we just hang out in the dressing room anyway.” 

“Do you think he would think it’s weird?” Betty asked, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her cheek on them. “I’m never there, now suddenly I am. He’s going to know something’s up at some point.” 

“Eh, let him. You’re sweet, you’re nice. We could use that,” Toni said, threading her fingers through Cheryl’s when she finished playing with her hair. 

Betty sighed, hugging her knees. “You two are too in love, it’s making me sick.” They laughed, grinning at each other. 

~

Betty met Cheryl at the door of the bar and she sighed. “Oh, Betty,” she sighed, fluffing her friend's hair. “Who taught you how to flirt?” 

“I’m not here to flirt,” she stated, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m here to… be here. And I came straight from work, I had a long day. We made these little leaves-” 

“Betty,” Cheryl said, cutting her off. “I love you, but you are wasting your breath explaining the project to me. You can explain it for hours and even show it to me, and I still won’t understand what you did or what you’re saying.” 

“Understandable,” Betty mumbled and they both nodded. “But I didn’t have time to change when I got home. I only had time to brush my teeth and freshen up. I couldn’t do a whole outfit change like I should have.” 

“You look cute,” Cheryl told her with a small smile. “And you look cute more than you look sexy. And I’m sure there’s times where you are sexy, but I’ll let you decide when that becomes your best interest. As much as I love pissing you off by making you put on hot outfits, I think I have to let you take this one on your own.” 

“Take this one on my own?” Betty uttered as they moved through the bar to their dressing room. “What does that mean?” she asked. 

“Okay, well, all the other guys you went after were just terrible fiends and I knew that—though you never listened.” Betty agreed with a wince. “But I have a good feeling about him. Toni says he’s super nice and he really cares about people. And all that stuff she said about him sleeping around wasn’t true. Toni said it to scare you.” 

“Why would she want to scare me?” Betty asked incredulously. 

“Because she’s 5’2” and gets mocked all day. You’re the only one who she _can_ scare.” Betty frowned and Cheryl giggled. “Okay, so. We’re going to go in there and you’re going to talk to him.” 

Betty laughed, shaking her head. “That is not happening,” she scoffed. “He’s surrounded by two guys and when guys smell that a girl likes one of their friends, the girl becomes the laughing stalk of their group. I don’t want to go through that, high school was bad enough!” 

“Oh, Archie was never good enough for you anyway. That guy was a total buffoon.” Cheryl muttered with a shrug, checking her nails. “But Betty,” she started again, brushing her hair off her face. “If you never say a word to him, how will you get to know him like you want to?” 

“I don’t know,” Betty whispered. “Through eye contact.” 

“Ah,” Cheryl breathed. “I get it. You’re going to make him come after you—smart.” 

“What? No! I am not going to-” Cheryl knocked on the door and Betty groaned. 

Betty inhaled sharply when Jughead opened the door, Cheryl giving her a look. “Hi,” Cheryl said, shaking Jughead’s hand. “We haven’t met yet somehow. Cheryl, Toni’s girlfriend. Now you guys can stop calling me Toni’s girlfriend because as much as I love her, that is not all that I am.” 

She gave him a smile and he nodded, moving aside so she could step in. Betty tried to follow after her, but he blocked the door with his body and gave her no room to go inside. 

“You didn’t think you were going to slip past me that easily, did you?” he asked teasingly and she let out a deep breath, her cheeks turning pink. “Jughead, but I think you might already know that because I know you’re Betty—Toni told me. And if Toni told me your name, there’s one of two reasons. You asked or Toni was in a bitchy mood and let the name slip—that doesn’t happen like it used to in high school.”

Betty sighed, chuckling. “I just wanted to, uh, put a name to your face.” She nodded, giving him a grin. 

“What about Sweet Pea or Fangs?” he asked, leaning against the door. 

She swallowed thickly, glancing away from him. “If you’re trying to get me to confess that I find you attractive, it’s not going to work because I don’t. I-I, um, I do not think you are… hot at all. The only thing I think you are is… well, I don’t know. But I don’t!”

He nodded, biting his lip. “Yes,” he whispered. “And I don’t find you attractive at all either.” She let out a breath and he smirked. “I’m teasing.” 

“Yeah, I got that,” she said under her breath, making a fist around her shirt sleeves. “Um, you see, just because I think you’re… whatever, doesn’t mean you’re a great person so if you’re like looking for a lay or-or something, that’s not going to happen.” she stated sternly. 

“Who said I was looking for a lay? Who said I was even looking for a girlfriend? Maybe I’m introducing you to a completely platonic relationship,” he joked though she didn’t catch the lilt. Her cheeks turned a flamed red and her eyes went wide. 

“Oh my god,” she whispered. “Forget I-I said anything. I didn’t know-”

“Okay, whoa,” he chuckled. “You are very gullible, very cute. I was kidding, unless you want it to be platonic, of course. I don’t date much because when I date… I try to make sure that it’s serious. So, that was me showing interest…” He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ll cut to the chase. When are you free?” he asked. 

She felt butterflies fill her stomach at the questioning look he gave, dimples showing up on his face. “Um, Saturday’s and Sunday’s,” she answered, sighing. “I work during the week. I mean, after work but, uh, if whatever you want to do is along the lines of drinking, I don’t do that on work days.” 

“Is that why you don’t have a drink tonight?” he asked and she nodded. “So I’m guessing you’re going to head out soon.”

“Yeah,” she whispered. “I work with 6-year-olds. I have to be up by 7. And when I say I have to be up, I have to be ready to teach and I have to get them woken up and I have to… get them to want to learn, and that’s hard to do when you’re tired.” 

He sighed, straightening. “Let me walk you home,” he stated, pulling his flannel sleeves down.

“Oh, no. I-I can’t. You have to play-” she started but was cut off. 

“You know what,” Cheryl said, appearing at Jughead’s side. “I think that is a wonderful idea. You two can really get to know each other. And, sorry, but I think I’m going to stay with Toni. It works out perfectly.” 

Betty bit her lip, looking from Jughead to Cheryl. 

“Go,” Cheryl mouthed and Betty sighed. 

She looked back to Jughead who was waiting patiently with his hands in his pockets. “Fine, okay,” she sighed. “You can walk me home as long as you know you’ll be back before you go on stage.” 

“How long is the walk to your place?” he asked.

She sighed, responding, “About ten minutes. Then about twenty from here and back.” 

“Okay,” he nodded. “We don’t go on for another fifty.” She nodded, stepping aside. He looked over his shoulder before he walked out of the room and closed the door behind himself. 

They were silent for some time, keeping distance from each other on the sidewalk. Betty popped the bubble they were in by asking, “Do you always walk the new girl home?”

He chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “I get it,” he scoffed. “You think I got a thousand women under my belt?” 

“I do,” she answered. “I mean, you play drums and I’m sure you know how to play guitar.” He nodded. “You have dark hair and the… I don’t know, the rocker persona. You are literally every girl's wet dream so…” 

“I’m not,” he responded and she gave him a disappointed look. “But thanks for thinking that.” She rolled her eyes and he let out a deep breath. “I get numbers all the time, but they’re from… like teenagers. I get them mostly from the girls who work at grocery stores.” 

“What’s wrong with them?” she asked, brows furrowed. 

“They’re like 17,” he chuckled. “I’m not interested in them or a felony. Now with you, it’s different. You’re over 18, you went to college, you have a degree, you have your own place. I know if I happen to date you, you’re not 17 and you’re dad won’t shoot me with a shotgun when you bring me home for Christmas.” 

“Who said I’m bringing you home for Christmas? And who even said I’m interested?” she teased and he laughed. “So, what I got from that, is that if these girls weren’t all 17, you’d date them.” 

“No,” he responded, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t. You’re about the only girl I’ve met in a while who’s first question wasn’t ‘how much money do you make from your shows’.” 

“How much do you make?” she asked jokingly. “Well, but like, what do you guys do with the money?”

“The money we make from shows, we save.” he stated with a shrug. “We only get so much because most goes back to the bar that we play at. But we save the money because if something happens to my drums for example or, um, Fangs’ guitar, we can get it fixed fast so we can get back to playing. And sometimes it’s too broken and you have to replace it. So the more we save, the more money we have to replace things and fix things. And we also use it to pay for venues.” 

“Smart,” Betty muttered and he chuckled. “I honestly thought your answer would have something to do with cigarettes or beer.”

“We waste our own money on that,” he said and she giggled. 

“So, uh,” she sighed. “What do you guys do when you’re not… playing?” 

“Well, uh, Toni is a hairdresser. I’m sure you already knew that,” he mumbled and she nodded. “Okay. Uh, Sweet Pea and I work at an auto shop in Crown Heights and Fangs is a tattoo artist. He’s damn good at what he does.”

“Let me guess,” she breathed, stepping closer to him. “He’s done all your tattoos.” 

Jughead laughed, shaking his head. “He’s done most. Not all, but he’s done a lot of them.” 

“I don’t like tattoos,” she stated and he gave her a wide-eye look. “On me, sorry. God, I should have said that first. I-I like tattoos I just… I would never get any. I, um, don’t like pain and I would never know what to get or where to put it.” 

“Not going to lie, that scared me a little bit,” he quipped and she laughed. “We would have been done before we even started.” She sighed, smoothing her shirt. 

They were quiet until they approached her apartment building, the two of them slowing to a stop. “Thank you for walking me,” she whispered. “You didn’t have to do that. Um, goodluck tonight.” 

“You’re welcome, it was no problem.” She nodded, looking down at her hands. “I don’t want to be that guy but, uh, may I have your number?” 

“You didn’t say can. What a gentleman,” Betty teased and he chuckled, flushing. She turned on her phone and opened an empty contact slot, passing it to him. “I think this is easier than trying to tell each other our numbers. Plus, you never know who could be listening.” 

“Ah, very true.” She giggled, taking his phone when he held it out to her. She typed in her number quickly, putting in her name. 

“I’m not going to take a picture right here on the spot,” she laughed. “Can we do that later?” she asked with a grin and he nodded. 

“I’m not a very photogenic person,” he answered, giving her her phone back. “So, who’s going to text who first?” 

“We’ll have to wait and see.” 

He smirked, nodding. “Have a goodnight…” He glanced down at his phone, calling out, “Cooper.”

“Don’t you dare-” she shouted after him but cut herself off with a huff when he looked over his shoulder with a devilish grin. 

She walked up the stairs to her apartment, pausing at the door when her phone buzzed. 

**J: Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is Phylis from the bowling alley, correct?**

She rolled her eyes at the text, scoffing. 

**B: You are already so corny it’s unbelievable.**

**J: Not Phylis, got it.**

She giggled, groaning. It wasn’t even funny. 

**B: Pay attention, you don’t want to trip.**

**J: For your information, texting and walking it my middle name. Seriously. My full name is Jughead Texting and Walking Jones. It’s long, I know.**

**B: You have drums to play, Mr. Jughead Texting and Walking Jones.**

**J: Damn, you’re right. I should really shorten my name though.**

**B: This conversation got really dumb, really fast.**

**J: Dumb is also my middle name.**

**B: Goodluck.**

**J: You’re already trying to get rid of me, damn.**

She finally opened the door to the building, rolling her eyes. Her phone buzzed when she had walked up the stairs to her floor and she looked down at it. 

**J: Goodnight Betts.**

She stared at the two words for long moments. He was already giving her a nickname. That was a good thing, right? Nicknames, they were sweet. 

She didn’t really know how to respond. She knew how she was supposed to respond, but her thumbs wouldn’t physically type those words out, she couldn’t comprehend them. She wanted to keep talking, she wanted the nonsense that had been exchanged between the two of them in the past three minutes to continue on for ages. 

She let out a deep breath, adjusting her phone in her hands. 

**B: Have a good night, Jug.**

If she could have a nickname, so could he. 

~

“Wow,” Cheryl whispered, setting Betty’s phone down on her dining table. “You’re going to go out with a dork.” 

“Nobody said anything about going out,” she pointed out, wiping down her kitchen counter. “We haven’t planned anything like that yet.”

“Ooh, can I do it?” Betty gave her a confused look over her shoulder, starting to load the dishwasher. Cheryl groaned, huffing. “You know, where I pretend to be you and you tell me what to say and I plan a date for the two of you.” 

“I love you,” Betty said, stopping what she was doing to give Cheryl a pointed look. “But no. I want to let him decide what we do first then I go. I don’t want to seem desperate.” 

Cheryl huffed, bringing a knee up to her chest. “Okay, well, then you have to at least come to another one of their shows or something. You have to show that you want to see him, you know?” Betty nodded, wiping her hands on a towel. “Ooh, I know! You can come with me when I drop off Toni tonight for their practice.” 

“Oh now _that’s_ desperate,” Betty mumbled. “He’s going to think I’m some crazy stalker, Cher. And I’m so tired of being a third wheel with you two.” 

“You wouldn’t be a third wheel,” Cheryl grumbled. “You’d just be walking with us.” 

“Third wheeling and I still think that Jughead is going to think I’m creepy if I go.” 

“Oh,” Cheryl huffed, waving her hand. “You’re always with me, I don’t think he’d mind. Just come with us, please.” 

“Cher, I don’t know. I feel like this is a bad idea,” she voiced and Cheryl shook her head. “I don’t want to look like this is all I have to think about. My God, he’s going to think I’m the female Joe from _You_.” 

“He isn’t going to think you’re a female Joe,” Cheryl scoffed. “Give me a call if you change your mind, okay?” 

“Fine,” Betty sighed and Cheryl smiled. “Bye.” 

“Bye,” Cheryl sang out, leaving Betty’s apartment. 

“If you want me to put in a good word with Jug,” Toni began, turning towards Betty. “Just ask. You’re really not that hard to talk about—in a good way.”

Betty huffed, crossing her arms. “I knew this wasn’t a good idea. He’s going to think I’m a nut case!” 

“He’s not going to think you’re a nut case,” Cheryl and Toni said in unison. “You’ll be the first thing he sees with all that pink,” Toni teased.

“I had work! What is up with you two and picking on my outfits?” she pouted.

“Stop,” Cheryl droned, patting Toni’s shoulder. “Betty just has her very own, very bright fashion sense. I’m starting to think it’s cute.” 

“Thank you,” Betty said with a nod and Cheryl gave her a grin. 

“Okay, listen. When Jug likes someone, he gets way too nervous when he’s playing and they’re watching,” Toni said, looking back at Betty. “Don’t screw him up. We kind of have to have him.” 

“I’m not going to control him,” Betty stated. “And I’m not one that would distract a guy. Trust me, I think he’ll be fine. Also, I’m only stepping in to say hi, that’s all—if I step in at all.”

“Whatever you say,” Toni muttered and Betty huffed. 

“Who’s place is this?” Betty asked as they walked up the steps of the building. 

“Jughead’s,” Toni said simply. Betty froze and Toni laughed. “You’re so gullible.” Betty frowned and Cheryl shrugged. “It’s Pea’s place, he’s the only one with an extra bedroom.” She nodded, crossing her hands in front of herself. “There’s a chance that Jug isn’t there yet. Sometimes he stops for food and he shows up late. Other times he stops for cigarettes. Then sometimes he stops for coffee. If he happens to not be there, I’ll tell him you say hi.” 

“Thanks,” Betty muttered, her and Cheryl trailing behind Toni. 

Toni stepped up to a door, pushing it open. “Jughead,” she shouted and Betty gave her a wide-eye look. He picked his head up, his eyes meeting Betty’s. She turned away and Cheryl gripped her arm to stop her. 

“Hi,” he breathed once he was at the door and Betty turned to face him slowly. 

“I’ll leave you two be,” Cheryl whispered, following Toni inside and closing the door behind herself. 

“I-I shouldn’t have come,” Betty started in a haste. “This was a horrible idea. You-You probably think I’m psychotic and I don’t blame you-” 

“Stop,” he chuckled and she sighed, looking up at him. “You’re fine and I don’t think you’re psychotic.” She laughed, flushing. “Um, actually, it’s good you came. I, um, was going to text you anyway.” She furrowed her brows and he placed his hands in his back pockets, rocking on his feet. “I was, uh, just… wondering if you wanted to go to dinner or lunch or something. I-I mean, not tonight, but, um, whenever you’re free.” 

She let out a breath, giggling. “Okay,” she answered, chewing her lip. “That sounds… yeah, we can do that. Um, this weekend, I could do lunch.”

“Um there’s a… thai place I order from a lot. We could go there?” he questioned. 

“Yeah,” she whispered. “Just send me the address and I can meet you there.” 

He nodded, smiling a little. “Okay,” he chuckled. “Um, have a good night.” 

“You too. Have fun at practice or whatever you do.” 

He laughed, smirking. “Thanks.” 

Her smile grew as his own did the same, both of them letting out a laugh. “Tell Cheryl I’ll be outside,” she mumbled. “Please,” she added.

“Will do,” he stated, setting his hand on the door knob of the apartment. 

She watched him for a moment before she took a step back, giggling, “I’m going to go.” He nodded and she walked off to the stairwell with a grin. 

Jughead walked into Sweet Pea’s apartment and Cheryl gave him a look. “She went outside,” he said softly, grabbing his cigarettes off the counter. Cheryl giggled, kissing Toni’s cheek before she left. 

~

“Okay, maybe you do have a sense of style,” Cheryl commented as she took in Betty’s outfit. “You look good and surprisingly not like you teach 6-year-olds.” 

Betty laughed, setting her lip gloss down. “So, yes?” 

“Yes,” Cheryl laughed. “If he doesn’t already swoon, he will now. Also, be nice to him. It’s hard for men when their dates look better than them.” Betty scoffed, fixing her hair. 

“Okay, I’ll text you when it’s over,” she said and Cheryl squealed. 

“You must tell me _everything_ ,” she exaggerated. “Like, I want to know every detail—unless you guys sleep together. I don’t want to know about that.” 

Betty huffed, walking up the stairs. “I am not going to sleep with him on the first date,” she scoffed and Cheryl shrugged as she followed her. “I am not like that. At most—and seriously, I mean _at the very most_ —I would kiss him, that’s it. I don’t sleep with people on first dates. That’s a horrible idea and just hurts you more in the long run.” 

“Oh, please don’t compare Jughead to Archie,” Cheryl whined, sitting on the couch next to Betty as she pulled on her shoes. “Here, think about this. Archie attempted to play the drums, Jughead _actually_ plays the drums. One of them can make women come undone, the other makes women run. Jughead is not Archie.” 

“I know Jughead’s not Archie,” Betty huffed. “Archie just ruined a lot of shit for me. Just like how Heather ruined shit for you. I don’t compare them, I don’t see them as equals, doesn’t mean I’m still not worried that there’s a sliver of a chance that they actually are, you know?” 

“Go have fun on your date,” Cheryl said, waving Betty away. “I love you, goodluck!” she called after her.

“Love you too,” Betty whispered as she left.

~

Jughead sighed, rubbing a hand over his thigh while taking a drag from his cigarette. He glanced down at his phone, rereading Betty’s text for what felt like the 30th time. 

**B: Just got off of the subway. Sorry for making you wait. Be there in 5.**

He felt like an obsessive boyfriend and it didn’t sit well with him. He hated those guys. She’s allowed to be late, it’s her life. And she wasn’t even late, he had just gotten there early. 

He heard a familiar huff and his head turned. “I’m sorry,” Betty mumbled, sighing and tightening her hold on the strap of her bag. “The damn subway ran late and I thought it was going to be on time and I swear, I was waiting there for ten minutes before it finally showed!” 

He started to grin, the nerves he had washing away. She was flailing her arms and huffing, along with smacking her thighs and stomping her foot. It was becoming a pain to hold back his laughs even as he took drags from his cigarette. 

“Then we went to stop after stop,” she continued to rant. “And I get that other people have places to go but ugh! I need to just suck it up and start driving. But in order to do that I would have to retake my drivers test—because I took mine in a small town, not in a city and I don’t trust myself. I also have no idea how to parallel park and that’s like the only kind of parking here—and I would have to get a car which is just way too expensive for me.”

He nodded, snuffing out his cigarette. “You’ve had a long day?” he chuckled. 

“No,” she whined. “I’m just hungry.” 

“Then we should get you some food then, huh?” he stated and she huffed. “Come on, let’s go find somewhere to sit.” 

“Can we sit by the window?” she asked as they stepped inside. He nodded, keeping his hands securely hidden in his pockets. “In a booth?” she added, scrunching up her face.

“I don’t mind,” he responded. “Just, may I ask why?”

“It’s supposed to snow soon and I want to see it,” she answered as she slid into a booth seat. “I like watching it snow.” 

“It’s October,” Jughead scoffed. “It’s already going to snow?” 

“We live in New York, Jug,” she said with a roll of her eyes and he smirked. “What do you—what?” she giggled, taking in his look. He shook his head, looking down at the menu in his hands. She frowned, huffing. 

A waiter came over and took their orders, coming back just minutes later with their drinks. Betty gave him a nice smile and a quiet “Thank you” and Jughead just nodded. 

Betty sipped from her drink, pushing it away and adjusting slightly in her seat. “Why are you in a band?” she asked and he furrowed his brows. “Why didn’t you do something else? Like… why didn’t you just become a mechanic?”

“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “It would have been easier. But, uh, in high school we all did band, they also did Chorus, I didn’t.” 

“You were in band?” she questioned with a smile. 

“I was,” he chuckled. “I was a percussionist.” 

She winced, mumbling, “I should have figured that out on my own.” He laughed and she giggled. “I want to know more, keep talking.” 

“Okay, uh, we started this little group thing in 9th grade. We never did much with it, recorded a few covers and uploaded them to Youtube like most high schoolers do. Then in, uh, 12th grade we kind of… fell apart. Sweet Pea and Toni tried dating, that didn’t work out. It got between all of us because we had to choose a side to be on but you had to support them both. Blah, blah, blah. We all stopped talking then somehow we all managed to go to Brooklyn College and now here we are.”

“So you guys have been a band since freshman year of high school excluding senior year?” she asked and he nodded. “When did you start making your own music?” 

“Beginning of college,” he mumbled with a nod. “Fangs went to college for music composition because he’s fancy. He writes all of our music and everything.”

“What’d you go to college for? Your… mechanical stuff?” she asked. 

He chuckled, shaking his head. “I have an english degree and then I went to school for auto repair.” 

She huffed, sinking in her seat. “How long did you go to school for that?” she asked. 

“Two years,” he answered with a smirk. “Pea and I did it together.” 

“How old are you? That’s a lot of school,” she whined. 

“I’m 25,” he responded. 

“You, like, just graduated from your mechanic school and you already have a job? This is my first year as a teacher and I’ve had my certificate for three years.” she complained and he chuckled.

“Where we work put us through school,” he laughed. She frowned, making a hmph noise. “Where’d you go to college?” 

“NYU,” she responded, taking a sip from her drink. “Columbia was the school I wanted to go to, but I wasn’t interested in anything that they offered. I knew I wanted to be a teacher, I just wasn’t sure _what_ I wanted to teach. I looked at a lot of different careers but… I don’t know, I decided on early education.”

“So you teach little kids?” he questioned, his brows furrowed. 

She nodded. “I teach first graders. They are something. I was going to go into kindergarten but I think I would be a mess if I did. Kindergarteners are really cute, but at least with 1st graders I know they know how to read and write… a little bit. I told them about you guys, your band.” 

“You told 1st graders about a rock band?” he chuckled.

She giggled, tucking hair behind her ear. “They liked it,” she explained. “Every Monday we share what we did that weekend. I didn’t say I was at a bar and that I was drinking. I just told them I went to a concert and got to meet the members. But I said I got to meet the people.” 

“Don’t play our music,” he muttered and she laughed. 

“I can’t play your music in school anyway,” she said. “I’d probably get fired and I’m trying to earn my tenure spot.”

“You didn’t go straight into a tenure?” he questioned with an incredulous look. 

“No,” she sighed with a frown. “They said they want to see how I do this year. I just tell myself it’s a really long interview.”

“Do you think they’d do something by, like, Christmas break?” 

She gasped, whispering, “No.” He chuckled and she huffed. “I never thought about that. They should do that.” 

“You never know,” he started. “They might.” She blushed and he smirked. 

“Do you have any pets?” Betty asked, looking up at Jughead as they waited for the subway. 

He nodded. “I do,” he answered and her eyes started to shine with excitement. “I have a cat. His name is Jinx.” 

“Is he nice?” she asked, her smile questioning. 

“Oh, for sure,” he responded with a nod. “He likes to snuggle up to people too.” 

Her eyes got beady like a deers and she pouted. “Really?” she whispered and he nodded with a smirk. “Like he’ll lay with you?” 

“Yeah, all the time. He sleeps on my chest at night,” he added and she awed. He chuckled, pulling out his phone. “Do you want to see a picture?” 

“Yes! I would love to,” she breathed, moving close enough so their shoulders were touching. 

She bit her lip as she watched him navigate to the photos app, glancing away. “Sorry,” she whispered, taking a small step away from him so there was a gap between them. “I kind of forgot about personal space and privacy. I shouldn’t have… I’m sorry.” 

“You’re okay,” he assured with a smile. “My phone is one of the least private things I have. I don’t care about this thing, I really only use it to talk to people for work, the band and you, and to take pictures of Jinx. All my ‘important’ shit is on my computer.”

“So your computer is where you keep your secrets,” she teased. 

“Yep,” he lilted. “All the recipes to my secret potions on there.”

“I want to say you like Harry Potter but I don’t want you to laugh…” she mumbled with a wince. 

“Why would I laugh about Harry Potter?” he asked. “Harry Potter is one of the only movie series I’ll watch without bitching about it.” 

“I’m going to be noting that in the back of my mind,” she commented and he grinned. “Um, can I see-”

“Jinx, yes, sorry.” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. He held his phone out to her and she gasped, taking his phone without a thought. 

“Oh my god,” she uttered under her breath. “Look at him! Oh my, he’s adorable!” 

“He’s a black cat, he’s not super special.”

She gasped, giving him a disappointed look. “Black cats are lucky, you know. And he looks like you!”

“He does not look like me,” he laughed. 

“Yes, he does,” she stated sternly. She held the phone up to his face, nodding. “They say pets look like their owners.” 

“Oh, give me this,” he huffed jokingly, taking his phone from her. “You have too much power with this picture in your hands.” 

She laughed, biting her bottom lip as the subway approached them. “Geez,” she huffed. “Finally. Told you it was taking forever today.” 

“One of the lines might be down,” he whispered to her as they stepped inside the car. “It happens all the time.” 

Betty shrugged, sitting in a seat against the wall and he sat next to her. She turned towards him, sighing. “Have you always been interested in the drums?” she asked and he nodded. “Like, even when you were little?” 

“What’s this about?” he asked and she scrunched up her face. 

“I’m not sure,” she sighed. “You can play guitar, right?” 

He laughed, mumbling, “I can.” 

She ran her eyes over him, nodding. She narrowed her eyes on his neck, pointing to it and whispering, “Your necklace, it’s-it’s messed up.” 

“What?” he muttered and she sighed. 

She bit her lip as she reached forward, fixing it so the clasp was in the back and no longer next to his pendant. She gave him a small smile as she sat back down, a blush covering her cheeks. 

He reached his hand up, covering the pendant for a moment. “Oh,” he breathed. “Uh, thanks.” She nodded, smoothing her hands over her thighs. “What do you do besides running?” She looked over at him in confusion and he sighed. “You keep asking me about stuff I do, what-what-what do you do?” 

“Oh,” she giggled. “I run—you know that—and I, um… I do yoga. That’s all. I try to run every morning, I usually do and in the winter I run on my treadmill. It’s my mom's old one, I cannot afford a new one. And I, uh, I do yoga on Tuesdays and Thursdays—after school.” 

“Yoga and running. You know,” he said, looking over at her. “Give you a Tahoe and you’d fit right in in a suburb.” She rolled her eyes and he chuckled. 

Her eyes focused on his hand and she started to trace fingers over it without a thought. She retracted her hand away when she realized what she was doing, inhaling sharply. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I-I don’t think sometimes.” 

“You’re okay,” he said and she sighed. 

“You say that a lot,” she mumbled and he shrugged. 

“I don’t really care what you do. As long as you don’t… I really don’t mind,” he said, shaking his head. “You were running your finger over my hand, that isn’t a big deal to me.”

“You don’t care?” she asked softly. 

He shook his head, a small smile on his face. “Fuck, if you’re gonna trace my hand, might as well hold it.” 

“Why? Is it cold?” she asked teasingly.

“You know what,” he mumbled. “Now that you mention it, it is. And yours looks a little heavy.” 

“You are so corny,” she laughed, looking down at his hand. “But it is _such_ a drag carrying my own hand around all day.”

He grabbed her hand, lacing her fingers through his. She blushed, resting her forehead on his shoulder when he laughed, “This is like high school all over again.”

She rested her chin on his shoulder, asking, “You used that line on all your girls?”

“Totally,” he whispered and she laughed, her eyes flickering to his mouth. 

He was right there, she could kiss him if she really wanted. But first kisses are supposed to mean something, she needed first kisses to mean something. 

“You’re cute,” she whispered and he narrowed his eyes in question. “But I have to break it to you… you look like your cat.” He laughed and she did the same, resting her head back on his shoulder. 

They walked hand-in-hand to Betty’s apartment, pointing out random things they saw on the street. When they got to the door of the building, she dropped his hand, turning to face him. 

“Thank you for lunch,” she started. “I had a good day. It went a lot longer than I thought it did and now I have lots of planning to catch up on, but it was worth it.” 

He smiled wide, nodding. “Good, I’m-I’m glad. I had a good time too.”

“I know what I want to do next,” Betty said, crossing her hands behind her back. “I want to go mini golfing—glow in the dark mini golf. And I know where I want to go.”

“You do?” he asked, stepping closer to her. She nodded, inhaling deeply. “Send me the address and I’ll meet you there.” 

She giggled, grinning. “You play tonight, right?” she asked and he nodded. “Maybe I’ll come say hi with Cheryl.” 

He laughed, pushing his hands in his pockets to avoid brushing away the strand of hair that was in her face. “I will be there,” he muttered. “Playing the drums.”

“Okay,” she sighed. “So tonight I’ll come say hi and next Saturday glow in the dark mini golf.” 

“That sounds like a plan,” he stated. “I’ll see you later.” 

“See you later,” she said, chewing her lip as he walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of your comments and kudos are greatly appreciated and I am so excited for you to read it!!

“You know, this is rude of you.” Betty whispered into the phone and Cheryl laughed. 

“I invited you, but you weren’t interested in sleeping with two very hot, very attractive, very flexible women. Really,” Cheryl said, setting the lighter she had on her dresser. “You’re totally missing out.” 

“Cher,” she huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Are they done?” 

“Oh, no,” Cheryl said and Betty groaned. “They haven’t even started yet. That whole threesome thing was a joke, Toni isn’t here. They’re all there getting ready like they’re supposed to be.” 

Betty huffed, rolling her eyes. “You’re mean,” Betty commented, turning up the steps to the bar. “Like, really mean.”

“Ha, ha,” Cheryl said and Betty chuckled. “Funny, funny. Go say hi to your boyfriend.”

“He is not my boyfriend,” she whispered under her breath. “He’s… I’m not sure what he is.” 

“Your boyfriend,” Cheryl responded. “He’s this guy who you text 24/7 and who you go out of your way to see. You two plan these little dates and you flush like tomatoes when the other smiles or laughs. He’s your boyfriend, you just won’t admit it. I don’t get why you won’t admit it either. He’s cute, he’s nice, he pays on dates. He’s literally, like, the perfect boyfriend. If I liked guys, I’d date him.” 

“You say that about every guy I date then change your mind as soon as they’re gone,” Betty chuckled as she walked into the bar. 

“That’s what you’re supposed to do!” Cheryl laughed. “I _have_ to say I really like them in the beginning so you won't regret dating them. Then in the end I’m supposed to hate them and want to rip them to shreds for hurting you.”

Betty grinned, taking her drink from the bartender. “Thanks, Cher,” she laughed and Cheryl did the same. “I have to go back there now all alone because you wouldn’t come.”

“You’ll be fine,” Cheryl groaned. “Goodluck, love you.” 

“Love you too,” Betty muttered. She ended the call and tucked her phone into her bag. She chewed her cheek as she stared at the door, her thumb tracing over the rim of her glass. 

With a deep inhale she knocked on the door, stepping back with squinted eyes. She really didn’t want him to answer the door. 

The tallest guy, the lead singer, opened the door. “Jones,” he shouted without moving his eyes away from her. “You’re girlfriends here.” 

Betty scoffed, rolling her eyes. “She’s not my girlfriend,” Jughead whispered as he took the guy's place. “Sorry about Pea. I know you don’t-”

“I don’t, not yet, but he’s fine. Cheryl does the same thing,” she giggled, tucking hair behind her ear.

“So, uh, you came to watch the show?” he asked, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind himself.

She nodded, her thumb rubbing over the rim of her glass quicker. “And to, uh, see-see you… I keep doing that. I swear, I’m not a stalker, I just have nothing better to do.”

He laughed, placing his hand on the small of her back and pointing out towards the bar. “Do you want to go somewhere to sit?” he asked as they walked out of the hall.

“We don’t have to stay in your dressing room thing?” she asked with furrowed brows when she looked at him. 

He glanced down at her thumb, noting that it had calmed. He looked back at her with a smile, shaking his head. “As long as I’m there in 20 minutes,” he said, pulling out a chair for her to sit in. “I’ll be okay.” 

He sat down next to her and she sighed. “I don’t want to pull you away from your friends, Jug,” she whispered and he shrugged. 

“They may be my friends,” he muttered, folding his hands on the table and giving her a grin. “But I’m not interested in them like I am in you.” 

“Sexual,” she commented, sipping from her drink. He laughed and she did the same. 

“Maybe in the long run,” he uttered under his breath and she swallowed thickly, setting her drink down on the table. “Although, right now I’m more interested in getting to know you. I don’t like the… I don’t know. I mean, one-night stands, everyone has them. But this, um, it’s different. You’re different—it’s-it’s a good kind of different.” 

She moved her eyes away from his, starting to stir her drink as she asked, “You’re not with me just to sleep with me?”

He shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. “No,” he said, his voice promising. She rested her cheek on her fist, looking over at him. “But something in the way you said that tells me that you’ve had that happen to you.” She scoffed, drinking from her glass. “That’s not my way of forcing you to tell me-” 

“No, it’s a dumb story. You can probably guess it,” she joked and he chuckled. “I liked him and I pursued him and I did anything to get him to-to see me. We went on a few dates—by a few, I mean, like, two—I put out, and then he just left me alone. He wouldn’t… look at me, talk to me, work with me. Everyone in his friend group laughed at me. He took pictures of me that I didn’t know he took. I was the person everyone laughed at from sophomore year of high school until I graduated.” 

“Well, they’re worthless people,” he told her and she laughed. 

“I know that now,” she giggled. “But he still… he still took a lot. I’m tired of… letting him have that control. He was my first kiss, first guy I held hands with, first time. It’s hard not to… I don’t know.” She sighed, groaning. “Sorry. But, uh, is it weird that I’m jealous of people who had really awkward and really embarrassing first times?” 

He laughed, wincing as he sat up straight. “You don’t want that,” he chuckled. 

“What?” she laughed, resting her cheek back on her fist. “Did you have a very awkward and embarrassing first time?” 

“I don’t even think those words…” He cringed and she laughed, biting her lip. “I was 15… 14… 14 or 15, I had no idea what I was supposed to do, I wasn’t even over the fact that a girl was interested in me that way. I was pimply and greasy and looked like - uncooked turkey—that’s not an exaggeration.” She laughed and he laughed too. “I don’t even think I had been to a sex ed or health class yet—terrible mistake. I didn’t know how to put on a condom, I had no idea what female anatomy was like, I had no idea about positions… it was messy and disgusting and truly humiliating.” 

“Well, you finished, that's always important to the guy.” 

“No,” he laughed, shaking his head. “No, it’s not important and no… well, I did but…” He winced, cringing again. “I don’t want to talk about that part.” 

She laughed again, grinning ear-to-ear. “That makes me feel a little better,” she mumbled and he chuckled. 

“Hopefully your first time was better than that,” he whispered and she shrugged. 

“I just really remember it hurting. And-And it wasn’t… like so painful that it wasn’t good, but it wasn’t good.” She shrugged, sighing. “I was more focused on him, I always am. I’ve never really… are girls supposed to get anything out of sex? I’ve always seen it as something for the guy, that’s it.” He looked at her with furrowed brows and she avoided his gaze. “You’re looking at me like I’m nuts,” she uttered.

“I…” He cut himself off with a sigh, looking down at the rings on his hands. “You know, you shouldn’t have sex with people if you don’t want to.” 

“It’s not that I didn’t want to, I did…” She sighed, tucking hair behind her ear. “I just… nobody has ever taken time to worry about what I want and over time… I don’t think they’re supposed to.” 

“No,” he muttered with a shake of his head and she looked back over at him. “Sex isn’t just supposed to be for the guy. You’re supposed to get something out of it too. And I think you know that, but you’re choosing to ignore it.”

She huffed, stirring her drink again. “I’m not ignoring it,” she grumbled. “I’m not used to it.” 

“If that’s what you want to say,” he murmured and she looked at him with a snarl. He laughed and she groaned. “I really don’t know how we started talking about your sex life-” She let out a bubbly laugh then and she dropped her head into her hands. “That’s funny?” he chuckled. 

“No,” she said through her laugh. “I don’t know why I’m laughing, it’s just so dumb. I really thought that sex was for men! I really, really did! Men. Assholes. Dicks. They’re supposed to be the ones who get to feel pleasure but women don't. Oh, I sound like a psychopath. You’re never going to talk to me again, are you?” 

“Nope,” he said with a grin. “We are assholes. And dicks. Hence to why you thought you shouldn’t get anything out of sex.” 

“As of right now,” Betty began. “You don’t fit in in the categories of asshole or dick.” 

“What category do I fit in?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair like he had earlier. 

She shrugged, biting her lip as she looked away. 

“What?” he chuckled, pulling out his pack of cigarettes. She looked back at him and he smirked. “I’m waiting,” he mumbled, lighting his cigarette and tucking the lighter back in his pocket. 

She moved her line of sight to her glass, mixing it. “Drummer boy,” she whispered and he burst into laughter. “How is that funny?” she giggled and he chuckled as he took a drag from his cigarette.

“I’m thinking about drummer boy, like the Christmas song.” 

“Oh,” she huffed, dropping her head into her hands. “That isn’t what I meant,” she laughed and he only laughed harder. 

Sweet Pea gave him a look from the stage and he jumped up quickly. “Fuck,” he breathed, grabbing his cigarettes off of the table.

“What?” she asked, her brows furrowed. “What’s wrong?” 

“I-I… they’re going to beat my ass if I’m not up there,” he said, looking back at the stage. Betty nodded, deflating. “I’ll see you later?” 

“I’m going to have to head out as soon as you guys are done,” she muttered and it was his turn to deflate. “I still have a lot of planning—and cleaning—to do and if I want to finish before Monday, I’ll have to start early tomorrow.” 

“Okay,” he sighed. “Let-Let me walk you home then.” 

“Oh, Jug, I… don’t you have to put your stuff away?” she asked. 

“It’ll take me five minutes,” he mumbled. “Ten at most,” he added. 

She sighed, shaking her head. “I’m going to have to head home, Jug. I’ll be okay, I can… I can walk home by myself.” 

“It’s not that I think you can’t-” he said quickly but she cut him off. 

“Jug, I know. You want to walk me home,” she said with a small smile. “It’s flattering and I’m glad that you care like that because most people don’t. But I had a really long day today, and I have to get this done tomorrow. If I don’t, I’m screwed.” 

He sighed, taking a drag from his cigarette. “Text me when you’re home,” he stated and she bit her lip. 

“I will text you when I’m home,” she promised. “As long as I get a picture of Jinx when you’re home.”

He chuckled, saying, “I can do that.” She giggled, nodding. “See you later.” 

She nodded, sipping from her drink as he jogged away. He appeared on the stage in seconds, waving off Sweet Pea and Toni as they cursed at him. He had his cigarette hanging from his mouth and she let out a deep breath, biting her lip as she leaned forward. 

~

Betty stopped jogging when her phone rang, answering Jughead’s call. “Hi,” she giggled, going back to running. “You’ve never called me before.” 

“Yeah, I just realized that,” he chuckled gruffly and she let out a deep breath, eyeing her apartment building. 

“It’s almost eleven,” she pointed out, just so she could have something to say. “Are you just waking up?” 

“Eh, maybe,” he answered and she laughed. “Oh, I know. It’s against your wake-up-at-seven-am rule.”

“I do not have a wake-up-at-seven-am rule,” she giggled, smoothing her hair back as she walked up the steps of the building. “I just prefer to wake up early and get things done.” 

“‘Cause you’re all done with your planning now?” he teased and she huffed, walking up the steps. “Why don’t you just plan that morning?” 

“Because,” she answered, unlocking her door. “I would be a mess if I did. I would have no idea what to do.” She heard his lighter flicker and she chewed her lip. “Don’t burn your bed,” she joked and he scoffed. 

“I’m out of bed now,” he chuckled and she giggled. “So you’re just going to sit at home planning all day?” 

“And cleaning, that’s just as important.” 

“Mm,” he hummed, wincing as he looked around his apartment. “I should do that.” 

“Did you just admit to me that you’re a slob?” she taunted, taking out her earbuds and changing the phone to speaker. 

“I am not a slob,” he said when his voice cut back in. “I’m just lazy. Cleaning is not my strong suit, I was never taught the correct way to do it.” 

“There technically isn’t a correct way to clean,” she said, eating a blueberry. “But some things make it faster.” 

“Very ture,” he whispered, tapping his cigarette ashes into an ashtray. “I, uh, don’t know why I called. I could have texted, but for some reason, I called instead.” 

“I think calling is very personal,” she muttered, walking into the bathroom. “Were you thinking about me, Jughead?” 

He was silent before he mumbled, “Maybe.” 

Her breath hitched and she cleared her throat. “I-I have to…” She swallowed thickly, smoothing her hand over her thigh. “To shower. Um, can we… I, um…” 

“I’ll let you go,” he chuckled and she let out a breath. “Wait, I have to be every asshole real quick.” He cleared his throat, forcing his voice deeper as he asked, “Without me?” 

A laugh bubbled out of her and he chuckled. “You play the perfect asshole,” she joked and he smirked. “I’ll text you later.” 

“I’ll send a picture of Jinx later,” he stated and she giggled. 

“If someone didn’t know that was your cat, it could be taken out of context and could be very dirty.” He laughed and she grinned. “Okay, I actually do have to shower, I’m disgusting.” 

“Then I will seriously let you go this time.” She nodded, pacing the small room. “Bye, Betts.” 

“Bye, Jug,” she muttered sheepishly, Jughead ending the call.

~

**J: Okay, you have to explain this to me.**

Betty laughed at the text, sitting down on the couch. 

**J: You walk everywhere. To work, to get groceries, everywhere.**

**B: Yes. I don’t have a car because they’re pointless here, and walking is very beneficial for you.**

**J: What about the grocery situation? What happens if a bag breaks? What happens if you need a lot of shit? What do you do then?**

**B: I buy things in moderation, Jug.**

**J: No.**

She scoffed, giggling. 

**B: No?**

**J: No.**

**J: Nobody buys groceries in moderation. You just open your fridge one day and realize everything’s gone so you force yourself to go to the closest grocery store so you can buy all of your shit.**

**B: That’s not what I do. When something is low, I go buy it so I know I’ll have a replacement.**

**J: I refuse to believe that.**

**B: You can refuse it all you want, doesn’t mean it’s not true.**

**B: How do you get groceries?**

**J: I take an Uber or a taxi if there’s none around.**

**J: That’s what normal people do.**

**B: We have known I’m not normal, Jug. I run because I like it, remember?**

**J: Oh, I remember. And don’t ever expect me to go running with you, that’s not going to happen.**

**B: We’ll see.**

**J: Ha ha. We won’t see anything. I don’t run.**

**B: So if a bear was chasing you, you wouldn’t run?**

**J: Nope. I could fight a bear. How hard could it be?**

She let out a laugh, grinning at the screen. 

**B: Tell me that when he has your head in his mouth.**

**J: Actually, I changed my mind. Hurting animals is bad. I’ll become friends with the bear.**

**B: Will you?**

**J: Yeah, he’ll be our back up drummer.**

**B: After a bear, you’ll need a back up drummer.**

**J: I could play the drums without arms.**

**B: You can’t play without a head, dumbass.**

**J: If the headless horseman could, so could I.**

**B: He rode a horse and isn’t real.**

**J: How do you know? Have you met him?**

She sucked her teeth, shaking her head. 

**J: Exactly. Silence. You can’t think of a single thing to say to argue my point.**

**B: You’re corny.**

**J: You always say that!!**

She laughed, eyeing the call button. 

**B: What are you doing?**

**J: I’m supposed to be practicing, not getting far though. Why?**

**B: Is it important?**

**J: Not really, I can practice whenever. What’s up? You okay?**

**B: Yeah.**

**B: Could I call you?**

There was no answer and anxiety burrowed in her stomach. 

**B: I don’t have to call you, it’s okay if you’re busy.**

**J: You can call. Jinx was stuck on top of the fridge again.**

She let out a breath of relief, inhaling deeply. 

**J: Do you want me to call you?**

**B: Please.**

**J: ;)**

She rolled her eyes, her phone ringing. She answered it, bringing it up to her ear. “Did I make you nervous, Cooper?” he asked and she scoffed. 

“No,” she muttered, her tone unconvincing. 

“Sure,” he responded around a mouthful of something. She heard the phone get set down and he cleared his throat. “You don’t have to ask before you call. The only time I’m not available is from 8 am until about 5 pm.” 

“That’s how long you work?” she asked, laying down on the couch. “8 to 5 every day?” 

“Monday through Thursday most weeks,” he answered. “I work 8 to 2 on Fridays then I’m off Saturday and Sunday Sometimes Wednesday’s, too.”

“That seems like so much work,” Betty whispered and he laughed. 

“Really?” he chuckled and she furrowed her brows. “You work from… what? 8 to 4 Monday through Friday? That’s… an hour difference from what I work.” 

She whined, huffing. “What are you doing now?” she asked, tucking her hand behind her head. 

“Making a sandwich,” he answered, placing the knife he used in his dishwasher. 

“I thought you were supposed to be practicing,” she teased, grinning. 

He hummed, sitting down on his couch. “I was,” he mumbled. “But then this very pretty blonde—her name isn’t coming to me at the moment—started texting me and the idea completely left my mind.” She started to smile hard and he was smiling himself. “Then she called and yeah, I would blow off practicing a set I already know to talk to her any day.” 

She felt her cheeks go red and they started to burn. “I see you’ve worked on your flirting,” she joked and he chuckled. “You know how to make a woman feel wanted.” 

He smirked, setting his phone on his thigh. “You really chose talking to me over Cheryl?” he said after a moment and she giggled. 

“Cher is with Toni,” she said, sighing. “And when Cher is with Toni-”

“You don’t call,” they finished in unison, causing them both to laugh. 

“Yeah,” he chuckled, pulling a corner of the ham off and giving it to Jinx who took it away. “Toni’s told the three of us that many times. She’s very insistent on that. How long have they been together?” 

“I don’t know,” Betty sighed. “I remember Cheryl talking about some girl maybe about two years ago, and then one day Toni appeared and they’ve been going strong ever since. They’re cute and all but God, you sit with them for a few hours and all you think about is when you’re gonna find someone like that.” 

“I know what you mean,” he whispered, brushing his hair off of his forehead. “Are we allowed to be jealous of people like that?” 

“I think we’d be nuts not to be,” she murmured. “Everyone wants that kind of love, but how do you find it?” 

“I don’t know,” he uttered softly, looking down at his lap. “We’ll find someone who looks at us that way one day, right?” he asked, hating how he sounded. 

“Yeah,” she whispered, the only person coming to her mind being him. But it was too early to see him as that, right? “We have to.” 

He chuckled, stroking his hand over Jinx when he came back. “We have to,” he echoed under his breath. 

~

Jughead cursed when he failed balancing the drumstick in his hand, giving Sweet Pea a glare when he knocked the stick out of his hand completely. “Ass,” he muttered when he bent over to pick it up. 

There was a knock on the door and he picked his head up. “Is that your girlfriend again?” Fangs grumbled and Jughead stood up. 

“She is not my girlfriend… yet. Shut up,” he said as he walked past him.

“Dude, we can’t lose you everyday,” Sweet Pea called after him while Toni laughed. “We have a show tonight.”

“You can miss me for one more day,” Jughead mumbled, grabbing his coat as he walked out of the room. “And I’ll be there!” He walked to the front door, giving Betty a smile after pulling it open. “Hi,” he breathed and she grinned.

“Hello,” she giggled. “You’re sure you can leave?” 

“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “It’s just touch ups before the show even though it’s the same stuff we’ve been playing.” 

“Mini golf with me is more important than your band,” she winced and he nodded. “I wouldn’t have been hurt if you told me you had to reschedule.” 

“Hey, we’ve had this planned for an entire week,” he started and she glanced down at her feet. “I’m not just going to bail on you.” 

“You have an obligation to your band,” she muttered, looking back at him. 

“And I have an obligation to you,” he whispered and she sighed. “And to me, that obligation is much more important.” 

She groaned, throwing her head back. “Can you stop being the guy everyone wants for five minutes?” she gritted out and he laughed. “I’m starting to think you’re not real and this is only our second date.” 

He gave her a smile and she crossed her arms in front of herself. “You look cute,” he commented and her grin lit up her whole face. 

“Ooh!” she exclaimed excitedly, stopping their step. “My skirt has pockets!” She pushed her hands into the pockets for emphasis, holding her arms out. “You see? Isn’t that cool? Skirts never have pockets!” She giggled, skipping ahead of him. “Pockets!” she squealed and he chuckled. 

He shook his head with a smirk, placing a cigarette in his mouth and pulling out his lighter. He took a drag, setting it back in his mouth as he walked up to her. He grabbed her waist and she gasped, looking at him with a frown. 

“Slow down,” he chuckled, stepping to her side. 

She pouted, crossing her arms in front of her. “Sorry,” she giggled. “I’m just excited.” 

“Because your skirt has pockets?” he teased and she laughed. 

“No. Well, kinda, but no!” she giggled and he chuckled, taking a drag from his cigarette. “I’m just excited. I’ve been to this place, like, a hundred times with Cher but that was… this is different.” 

“Everything with us always seems to be ‘different’,” he joked and she rolled her eyes. “It’s a good different, right?”

She laughed, nodding. “Of course it’s a good different,” she giggled. “We haven’t shown each other our dark sides yet.” 

“Dark sides?” he questioned and she nodded. “So you do have a dark side. I didn’t think someone as bright and… pink as you would have a dark side. And that’s-that’s a joke, everyone has a, uh, dark-dark side. It’s not, like, reserved for, uh, people who aren’t bright or-or who don’t wear, um, pink. Why-Why are you laughing?” he chuckled and she looked away from him. “What did I do now? Is this how you feel when I start to laugh at you?” 

“You’re, like, panicking,” she laughed and he huffed, rubbing his neck as he started to blush. “And it’s all because you said I’m bright and pink and don’t have a dark side. I’ve had guys call me a bitch before and they never tried to justify it that fast. They never tried to justify it at all.” He glanced back at her and she sighed. “You really aren’t real, are you? You’re, like, a hologram.” 

“Eh, I don’t think so,” he mumbled with a shake of his head. “I think you would have to touch me in order to find out if I’m real or not.” 

He held his hand out between them and she glanced at it. She narrowed her eyes up at him, giggling. “You are stuck in middle school,” she laughed, taking his hand and threading their fingers together. She let out a deep breath at the feeling, biting her lip. 

“You okay?” he asked after she had gone silent for a few minutes.

She looked up at him with a smile, nodding. “Yeah. I’m really okay,” she answered and he smirked.

“I’ve never done this,” Jughead said as Betty came back from getting her ball. “I never planned on doing this, but yet, here I am. I am playing glow-in-the-dark mini golf and I’ve never even been golfing.” She grinned and he chuckled. “You’re very easy to make smile,” he mumbled and she scrunched up her face. “It’s cute.” 

She groaned as she looked away from him, sighing. “Stop,” she whispered sheepishly, a blush covering her face and neck. 

“What?” he laughed. “Are you embarrassed to blush?” She rolled her eyes and he laughed again, following her to the next hole. “You know, this isn’t the first time you’ve blushed around me. It’s not the first time I’ve made you blush either.” 

“How do you know you’ve made me blush before?” she asked and he shrugged, placing his ball down. “Tell me, I want to know.” 

“You do this thing,” he chuckled and she rolled her eyes. “You look away, you duck your head, you mumble under your breath. That’s how I know you’re blushing.” He hit his ball and she sighed. He looked back at her, adding, “And one time you had your hair up and when you blush, you don’t just blush on your face. Your whole neck blushes—front and back.” 

She sucked her teeth and he laughed, walking away. “You’re not supposed to study me,” she teased. 

“If I was supposed to,” he said, standing next to her as she set her ball down. “I think it would be pretty easy. You have routines for, like, everything.” 

“Routines?” she scoffed. “Did you just tell me that I have a routine for blushing?” 

“Not blatantly,” he muttered. “But yeah.” Her jaw slacked and they both laughed. 

She shoved his shoulder gently, huffing. “I do not have a routine!” she laughed and he shook his head. 

“I can beg to differ,” he argued and she shook her head. 

“Let me hit my ball,” she said and he stepped back, chuckling. 

He watched her make her move, shaking his head. “You want to beat me but you can’t.” 

“You are cocky _and_ corny,” she scoffed and he smirked. “You are just…” 

“Irresistible, I know,” he sighed, brushing off his shoulders. “You don’t have to tell me twice.” A laugh bubbled up out of her and he laughed himself. “How are people serious when they say that?” 

She shook her head, rolling her eyes. “I can’t believe you sometimes,” she giggled. 

Jughead helped Betty into the vest, situating it on her. “I’m going to get you before you get me,” she said, taking the laser gun the guy passed her. “I’m going to beat your ass.” 

“Oh?” he chuckled and she winked, hurrying away. “Oh,” he laughed, taking his laser gun and following her trail. 

He moved into the dark room, feeling his vest buzz. He heard a giggle, looking to his left. “Told ya’,” Betty called, ducking behind one of the walls. 

He rolled his eyes, moving behind one of the walls himself. He could see Betty’s hair as she moved and he followed it with his eyes. He stood up, moving to the trail where she was at. He crept up until he was a few feet away, moving to the other side when she looked down the aisle. 

“Don’t you dare scare me,” she grumbled and he smirked. He snuck up behind her, pointing the gun at her vest and pulling the trigger. “Oh, dammit! Where are-” She screamed when she turned, shoving him. “Ass!” He laughed and she giggled, covering her face. She leaned against him, groaning. “We’re wasting our money by just sitting here.” 

“Eh, we can make more,” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “Just hope you don’t mind being last on the leaderboard.” 

“Mm,” she hummed, resting her head on his shoulder. “I think I can deal. As long as we can go to the arcade,” she added, looking up at him with questioning eyes. 

He pulled out his phone, checking the time. “Yeah,” he muttered, putting his phone back in his pocket. “We can go to the arcade.” 

She squealed happily, clapping her hands. “We’re playing air hockey, it’s one of the only things I’m good at.” 

He laughed, nodding. “Sounds like a plan,” he responded with a grin. 

“You have officially won me a stuffed animal,” Betty said to the stuffed animal in her hands as Jughead took a drag from the cigarette. “You are now every guy ever.” 

He scoffed and she giggled. “So I’m out of the drummer boy category?” he joked and she laughed. 

“I forgot about that,” she grinned, holding the stuffed lion's hand. “He’s cute, yes?” 

“You talking to the lion or me?” Jughead asked, his brows furrowed. She gave him a look and he smirked. “You’re totally talking to the lion.” She groaned, rolling her eyes. “One of these days, your eyes are going to roll right out of your head.”

“Right out of your head,” she mocked and he snickered. “Cheryl says that. Personally, I don’t think I roll my eyes that much. I do it a moderate amount of times, you just don’t do it enough.” 

“I don’t roll my eyes enough?” he questioned, pinching the tip of his cigarette. He dropped it into a cigarette canister outside of a store they were passing by. 

“Nope,” Betty clipped, bouncing on her feet as they walked. “I think you should do it more.” 

“No,” he chuckled. “I look stupid and derpy when I roll my eyes. Does it count if I do it mentally?” 

She looked up at him and scrunched her face. “Just because you’re cute.” 

“See,” he said with a shake of his head. “I knew you were talking to the lion.” 

She scoffed, shaking her head. “Totally was,” she taunted and he narrowed his eyes at her as he opened the back door to the bar. “Your eyes, they sparkle. Did you know your eyes sparkle?” 

“No, I did not,” he answered and she brushed hair off of his forehead. “Your eyes sparkle too, you know.” 

“Everyone says that,” she mumbled. 

“It’s true,” he whispered. “They really do. Especially when you’re happy and smiling and laughing. You get, like, this little twinkle.” He chuckled and she bit her lip. 

She sighed, turning away. “You have drums to play, mister.” 

He smirked, following her inside. “Sit up front,” he whispered. “Cheryl’s already there.” 

“What do you mean?” she asked with furrowed brows. 

“Cheryl’s here and she’s sitting at a table towards the stage,” he explained. “I swear, from where you sit, you can’t see anything.” 

“I think you just want to watch me watch you,” she teased. 

He weighed the idea, humming. “Eh, maybe.” 

She laughed, reaching up and kissing his cheek. “I’ll see you up there then,” she whispered, slowly stepping back and away from him. 

He smirked arrogantly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered, chuckling as he walked into the dressing room. 

Betty skipped over to where Cheryl was sitting, sitting in the seat next to her. “Hi,” she said with a large smile, toying with the stuffed lion. 

“Oh god,” Cheryl said, giving her a knowing look. “You’re seriously falling for him. Jesus, you’re swooning.” 

“I am not swooning…” she whined, frowning a minute later. “I’m swooning,” she sighed. She huffed, sitting up straight. “So what if I’m swooning? I think he is swoon-worthy. He’s a good guy, a nice guy. I can swoon over those kinds of guys.” 

Cheryl smiled, nodding. “Your eyes sparkle,” she commented and Betty huffed.

“He said that—did you tell him to say that?” she asked dramatically. 

“You think I told Jughead to tell you that your eyes sparkle?” she questioned, scoffing. “I don’t talk to him and your eyes seriously sparkle.” 

Betty sighed and her eyes focused on them as they walked onto the stage. Jughead sat down quickly and she furrowed her brows.

He had lost the flannel he was wearing earlier, now just in a black t-shirt that showed off the tattoo’s that littered his arms. You could also see his bracelets more clearly. His rings shined in the lights and his smirk was devilish. 

She leaned forward on the table, letting out a deep breath. “Careful,” Cheryl whispered. “You’re drooling.” Betty looked at her with a frown and Cheryl laughed. 

Betty looked back at the stage and Jughead winked just before the song started. She sucked her teeth, shaking her head and sighing. 

~

“You always run off before I can say goodbye,” Jughead said over the phone and Betty sighed. 

“I, uh,” she cleared her throat, sitting down on her bed. “Had things I needed to take care of.” 

“Mm,” he hummed. “What things?” 

She let out a breath, swallowing thickly. “Just… th-things. I had to, uh, clean and, um, I got a head start on planning.” 

“Clean… at 11:30?” he asked, his voice light and joking.

She chuckled, nodding. “Yep,” she giggled. “I had an… an urge.” 

“An urge?” he mirrored. 

She let out a slow breath, nodding as she breathed, “Yeah.” 

He hummed, nodding. “I get where you’re coming from,” he mumbled and Betty glanced out the window. It was a cloudy day and she still hadn’t gone on her run or used the treadmill. “I get those urges too.” 

She cleared her throat, rubbing the back of her neck. “They’re common,” she uttered. 

“They really are,” he responded and she giggled. “So what’s on Betty’s list for today? Moderation grocery shopping?” 

She scoffed and he chuckled. “No,” she answered. “I will either go on my run or use my treadmill then I’ll do my planning and then I will either watch TV or read some of my book or I’ll do both. Then I don’t know.” He hissed through his teeth and she giggled, “Why?” 

“Well, not to be that guy,” he started and she groaned. “But do you have any lunch plans?” 

“As of right now,” she mumbled. “I do not.” 

“Well, now you do,” he stated and she giggled. “I’ll send you the address, meet me there at 11:30.” 

She laughed, her smile cracking her face. “Okay,” she lilted. “I’ll see you at 11:30.” 

Betty skipped over to Jughead, scrunching up her nose. “Your hair is a mess,” she complained, stepping towards him and trying to fix it. 

“My hair is fine,” he chuckled, pushing her hand away. “It’s not that messy.” 

“You need to start brushing your hair,” she said, following him into the restaurant. “It’s important. And even if it gets really fluffy when you do it, just do it early so it has time to, like, go back down. That’s what I do. And just because you’re a guy, doesn’t mean you only brush your hair when it’s wet.” 

“I apologize profusely,” he said, placing his hand over his heart. “I promise, I will start brushing my hair for you.”

“A haircut would help too,” she added and he chuckled. 

“Don’t like my hair, Cooper?” 

“I think you have very nice hair,” she mumbled, sitting down at a table and ignoring his arrogant smile. “But it’s a little wild.” 

“Very nice hair, huh?” he questioned and she twisted her lips. 

“Yes,” she breathed, fighting her flush. “Very nice.” 

He grinned, looking down at his hands. “Cute,” he whispered, smirking.

“You always say something like that,” she mumbled. 

He nodded, whispering, “Because it’s true.” She bit her lip, glancing away from him. “And then there’s the blushing routine.” She whined, covering her face with her hands. 

“I know this isn’t something, like, anybody wants to know about and it’s also something that you are not supposed to ask your boyfriend or girlfriend but…” Betty sighed, pausing their step. Jughead watched her with furrowed brows and she stepped in front of him. “You don’t have to answer, okay?” 

“Yeah,” he answered sheepishly, crossing his arms over his chest.

She let out a deep breath, looking him in the eye as she asked, “Who was the last person you dated? Or-Or who you had a serious relationship with?” He gave her a confused look and she sighed, moving her eyes to her hands. “I-I’m not saying that I would, uh, know-know them, I just want to know like what… what kind of person they were.” 

“Okay,” he whispered. “If I tell you mine, you tell me yours.”

She nodded, echoing, “Okay.” 

He cleared his throat, nodding. They started to walk again and she continued to glance at him questionably. “We broke up a little over a year ago,” he began and she bit her lip. “It was… she-she wasn’t the best person, but I don’t want to… I don’t want to make her seem like she’s evil, you know?” 

Betty nodded with a wide-eye look and he let out a deep breath, tucking his hands into his pockets. 

“We dated for… for about four years. It was serious, but that doesn’t mean it was always good.” He sighed and Betty swallowed thickly. “She was nice when she wanted to be, she was really good at putting on a show—that was her sport. Everyone—that includes Sweet Pea and Toni and Fangs—loved her, she was their favorite person. They wanted to see us get married, have kids, grow old together.” 

Betty chewed her lip, picking up his hand and giving it a squeeze. He looked over at her and she let out a slow breath. “You don’t have to finish, Jug,” she said softly and he shook his head. 

“No, I’m okay,” he chuckled and she gave him a concerned look. “I just don’t want… I don’t want to make her out to be someone bad. I don’t-I don’t want to be that guy.” 

“Jug, you’re not,” she assured. “You’re telling the truth, right?” 

“Yes, I’m telling the truth but…” He let out a deep breath, clearing his throat. “I know she’s a good person, or she-she was. But with me, she wasn’t—not all the time. And I don’t think that’s the type of person she is, I don’t want to see her as that kind of person, so I just think it was me.” 

“That’s not healthy,” she whispered and he shrugged. 

“It’s… I don’t want to see her as a bad person, so it’s just easier to believe that I was the problem. I mean, I’m sure I had something to do with it. I’m-I’m… I’m annoying and I’m always there. I call and I text and I just… I get annoying, I know I do.” She gave him an unamused look and he shook his head. “Don’t do that. It’s the truth, I was… I was raised to focus on you guys, not-not me. It gets tiring, I understand that. I do too much and that’s what happened—I did too much.” 

“What’d she do to you?” she asked, not sure if she wanted to know. 

He sighed, shrugging. “She just… shoved me around, that’s all.”

“Jug,” Betty muttered and he winced. 

“Don’t-Don’t say my name like that,” he whispered. “I-I came out fine.” 

She sighed, looking down at the ground. “You were abused,” she argued and he huffed.

“I wasn’t abused-” 

“You were abused,” she interrupted and he let out a deep breath. “Being ‘shoved around’ isn’t a thing. You were abused, men can be abused. Just because society is just now seeing it—doesn’t mean they’re doing anything about it. But now that they’re seeing it, doesn’t mean _you_ have to just start seeing it, too.” She stopped them, cupping his cheeks. “You’re okay now, right?” 

He nodded, wrapping his hands around her wrists and putting them down at her sides. “I’m fine,” he muttered. “I’m-I’m okay. We haven’t been together for a while, I’ve healed from what she did but don’t… don’t look at her like she’s bad.” 

“She hurt you-”

“But she’s not a bad person,” he said sternly, clenching his jaw. “Yes, I get it. She hurt me, she abused me or whatever, she did shit to me that I don’t want to talk about. But she isn’t a bad person. She’s-She’s a good one, okay? I loved her, not the… not the _bad_ her, the _good_ her. I loved her, and you cannot think of her as some murderer. If you care about me, you wouldn't do that.” She let out a deep breath, swallowing thickly. “Please,” he croaked out, his voice raspy. 

She ran her eyes over his face, whimpering before she crashed herself into him. She hugged him as tight as she could, burying her face in his chest. He sighed, slowly wrapping his arms around her and holding her to him. He rested his cheek on the crown of her head, closing his eyes and starting to take in slow, deep breaths. 

“I’m sorry she did that to you,” she whispered and he groaned in protest. “ _But_ ,” she continued, emphasizing the word. “I will not see her as a bad person.” 

“Thank you,” he breathed and she nodded, stepping away from him. “Who was the last person you dated?” he asked quickly, wanting the somberness to end. 

She scoffed, sighing. “He was just rude. And by rude I mean he never paid any attention to me. He was always way too focused on his game.” 

“I’d rather you go through that than something else,” he mumbled and she shrugged. 

“I liked him. He was nice when he wasn’t playing that stupid game, but it was all he did! We dated for, like, 6 months and throughout that whole time, we had gone on maybe 3 dates. And during those three dates, he was paying attention to some dumb game stat! Ugh, he was aggravating.” She took in a deep breath, sighing. “But, nonetheless, he was a nice guy.”

“He sounds better than that guy. Your first time guy,” he added and she cringed. 

“Everyone’s better than him,” she chuckled, tucking hair behind her ear. She sighed, pointing her thumb towards her apartment building. “We’re here,” she murmured, clearing her throat. “I’ll text you tonight because I seriously have to get shit done now. I should have done it yesterday but I spent half the day figuring out what to wear.” 

“If you would have shown up in a trash bag, I still would have thought you were beautiful.” 

She rolled her eyes, sighing. She ducked her head for a moment before she picked it up, waving her finger at him. “I’m not doing the ‘blushing routine’. I’m fine,” she laughed fanning her face when she started to flush. “Goddamnit,” she cursed and he laughed. 

“That’s what you get for avoiding it,” he chuckled, pulling out his cigarettes. 

“I have shit to do,” she huffed. “You are very distracting.” He smirked, lighting his cigarette. “Thank you, I had a great time, but shoo. I-I have to plan.”

He stepped away from her, waving. “Go get your shit done,” he called and she giggled. 

“I will,” she shouted back to him, sighing. “Oh my god, what am I doing?” she asked herself under her breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there’s chapter two. I’m going to try and update this as frequently as I can. I hope you guys are enjoying this fic so far!!

**Author's Note:**

> That was the first chapter!! I really hope y’all enjoyed. I will try to update this as much as I can since it is already finished. I hope you all have a great day/afternoon/night/etc.!! 
> 
> Tumblr: ultravioletviolet


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